Psalm 37

Psalms 37:1-2

Psalm 37 is one of the Psalter's acrostics, its Hebrew lines built in order through the alphabet's twenty-two letters, a form invisible in English and noted here once for the whole psalm rather than at every stanza. Fret not thyself because of evildoers opens the main command, repeated again at verses 7 and 8, envy at the wicked's apparent success the trouble the whole psalm answers. They shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb sets the wicked's real timespan against their present flourishing, grass rather than a tree, cut in a season rather than standing for years. Delitzsch and Barnes both read the acrostic form as suited to proverbial wisdom, each letter holding a complete thought rather than advancing a single argument.

Psalms 37:3-6

Trust in the Lord, and do good: Trust in the Lord, and do good pairs faith with active obedience rather than setting them apart, dwelling in the land and being fed named as the outcome of both together. Delight thyself also in the Lord promises the desires of thine heart, a line easily read as a blank check; the commentators tie the desires to the delight itself, a heart that delights in the Lord desiring what he desires. Commit thy way unto the Lord uses a word elsewhere translated roll, the same picture as rolling a burden onto someone able to carry it. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light closes the section with vindication pictured as sunrise, not manufactured but simply revealed once the dark has passed.

Psalms 37:7-9

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him restates the opening command in calmer language, rest rather than merely the absence of fretting. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way names the actual trigger a third time, envy provoked by the wicked man's success rather than his sin. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath moves from an inward feeling to two named responses to it, both refused. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth states the psalm's main contrast in its clearest form, cutting off against inheriting.

Psalms 37:10-11

Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be presses the psalm's timing claim harder still, not merely cut down but gone entirely, his place searched for and not found. But the meek shall inherit the earth is the verse Jesus echoes at the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), the same promise carried without alteration from the psalm into his own teaching. The abundance of peace named alongside the inheritance is the meek's actual reward, land enjoyed rather than merely land held. The commentators note that meek here is the same quality the wicked in this psalm conspicuously lack, patience under provocation rather than passivity.

Psalms 37:12-15

The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth pictures active hostility, plotting joined to visible bodily rage. The Lord shall laugh at him uses the same verb Psalm 2:4 gives the Lord toward the kings who conspire against his anointed, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the wicked here met with the same response as the nations there. For he seeth that his day is coming supplies the reason for the laughter, certain knowledge of an outcome already fixed rather than cruelty. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken states the same reversal the imprecatory psalms request outright, here simply declared as fact.

Psalms 37:16-20

A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked states the psalm's central value judgment plainly, quality of possession over quantity. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous sets broken strength against sustained strength, the wicked's own resources failing them while the righteous stand on strength that does not run out. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied answers two specific fears, public shame and physical want, with a promise covering both. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away pictures the wicked's end as a burnt offering, consumed rather than preserved.

Psalms 37:21-26

The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again sets a small dishonesty beside the righteous man's opposite habit, sheweth mercy, and giveth, generosity that gives without expecting return. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord pictures each step as directed rather than merely permitted, and though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down promises recovery rather than exemption from stumbling. I have been young, and now am old is the psalm's one personal testimony, an old man's own observation rather than a doctrine argued from first principles, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth closes the stretch on the same generosity named at its opening, the righteous man's settled habit rather than an isolated act.

Psalms 37:27-33

Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore restates the psalm's opening command as a settled way of life rather than a single choice. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints grounds the promise in God's own character rather than in any merit of the saints themselves, and they are preserved for ever answers the wicked's cutting off named in the same verse. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide locates obedience inwardly rather than as an outward performance. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him returns the psalm to open hostility, and the Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged answers it, protection carried through a legal process rather than around one.

Psalms 37:34-40

Wait on the Lord, and keep his way restates the psalm's governing command a final time, exaltation to inherit the land promised to the one who keeps waiting rather than acting on his own. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree returns to the empirical testimony of verse 25, the wicked at their most impressive; yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not answers it, the same disappearance already promised at verse 10. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace states the psalm's closing contrast in its plainest form, an ending rather than a beginning as the measure of a life. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble closes the whole psalm on the same ground it opened on, the Lord himself rather than the righteous man's own resources.